Site confirmed for eastern Costa del Sol desalination plant

The facility will be built in the Campiñuelas area of Vélez-Málaga after public water company Acuamed rejected two other possibilities

Eugenio Cabezas

Friday, 14 March 2025, 18:22

Although the abundant rainfall of the last few days has given a real boost to the reserves of the La Viñuela reservoir on the eastern side of Malaga province the project for a desalination plant in the Axarquía is still on the table.

The area around Las Campiñuelas, to the north of the A-7 motorway and to the south of Vélez-Málaga town centre has been the chosen as the site for the new facility. The decision comes after Acuamed, the public water company, objected to the other two alternatives: Taramillas, next to the Vélez-Málaga water treatment plant and the River Vélez opposite El Ingenio shopping centre.

Mayor of Vélez-Málaga Jesús Lupiáñez held a meeting on Thursday 13 March with other representatives at the town hall to provide them with "all the information on the procedures carried out to date and the process followed to try to determine the best location, in an exercise of transparency and institutional responsibility".

"The town hall has been working rigorously with the specialised consultancy to analyse all the available options and select the most suitable location," Lupiáñez said.

After an "exhaustive technical study and a process of consensus" with the farming community, public water company Axaragua which forms part of the Mancomunidad association of town halls in the Axarquía, Acuamed and the Junta de Andalucía, it has been determined that the best location would be on the land located to the north of the A-7 motorway, in sector VM.23 of the PGOU, next to the Camino del Higueral.

Investment

The land in question has a surface area of 45,000 square metres, and it is still to be determined which part is public and which would have to be expropriated. "This alternative has been assessed as having the best conditions in terms of technical feasibility, accessibility and less urban impact," Lupiáñez told SUR, while stressing “the effort” being made by all parties involved.

The new desalination plant will be financed by the central government to the tune of 100 million euros, to be returned by the users, irrigators and town councils, within an as yet undetermined period of time.

"From the town hall we are working with seriousness and commitment to facilitate all possible procedures and find the best location, ensuring that this infrastructure is integrated efficiently in the area and responds to the needs of citizens and the agricultural sector," said the mayor.

The president of the Mancomunidad, Jorge Martín, has estimated that the documentation could be sent to Acuamed at the end of April or beginning of May. "It would be better to take a couple of months longer to fine-tune and get the proposed land right," he said.

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